Tag Archives: Holy Spirit

March 20, 2023 · 12:02 am

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Can These Bone Live?

We begin with the Old Testament reading:

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”   (Ezekiel 37:1-6)

In the vision that Ezekiel had God could and did resurrect the dead bones. Why did God ask Ezekiel if the bones could live?

Let us look at another resurrection in the New Testament:

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”   (John 11:17-27)

Why did Jesus ask Martha if she believed that Jesus was the resurrection? Clearly, God is saying that our faith is important concerning the resurrection and who Jesus is.

Why should we believe in the resurrection? Because the resurrection of the body occurred and was observed by eyewitnesses. People observed that Lazarus was raised from the dead:

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”   (John 11:38-45)

The scribes and Pharisees knew that the resurrection of Lazarus was real. They were worried that people might believe that Jesus was the Messiah because he performed this miracle.

We cann0t resurrect the dead, but God can and did. What does that mean to us? The Apostle Paul wrote:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.   (Romans 8:11)

When Jesus would soon face the cross he reassured his disciples concerning the resurrection:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”   (John 14:1-7)

Jesus asked Martha? “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” What is our response today if he were to ask us the same question?

The Apostle John was in the Spirit and found himself staring at the risen Lord:

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last and the Living One. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever,   (Revelation 1:17-18)

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March 12, 2023 · 12:00 am

Third Sunday in Lent

Living Water

In life, we have wilderness experiences, times in which we may experience a spiritual dryness. These are often times when our faith is tested. This was certainly true for the children of Israel. God rescued them from bondage in Egypt through great signs and wonders. Yet they wondered if God could provide for their needs in a wilderness environment. Reading from Exodus:

From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?” So Moses cried out to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.” The Lord said to Moses, “Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.” Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”   (Exodus 17:1-7)

Wildernesses can test our faith and trust in God. Some might say that we should have enough faith to not ever experience a wilderness. I believe that God allows us to experience such times in our lives because they can help build our faith and character. Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness in preparation for his earthly ministry. He certainly did not lack faith in God, the Father.

Let us look at someone struggling with an apparent wilderness in her life. Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well. He was passing through Samaria and his disciples had gone ahead to buy food

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”   (John 4:7-15)

What was remarkable is that the woman responded to Jesus in the affirmative, without understanding all that Jesus was saying. She was willing to talk to him even though she was told not to do so.

What did Jesus mean by “living water?” The seventh chapter of John tells us:

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now he said this about the Spirit, which believers in him were to receive, for as yet there was no Spirit because Jesus was not yet glorified.   (John 7:37-39)

Let us return to Moses. The Apostle Paul wrote:

I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.   (1 Corinthians 10:1-4)

Jesus was glorified on the cross. He was struck on the cross so that we might have living water. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit which he could not give us unless we were cleansed of all our sins. The Apostle Paul wrote:

When he ascended on high, he made captivity itself a captive;
    he gave gifts to his people.   (Ephesians 4:8)

Let us continue with the Gospel narrative. The Samaritan woman had a complicated life. In her heart, she must have been seeking answers to the turmoil she was apparently experiencing. She began to open her up:

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”

Jesus’ statements shock her. She realizes that Jesus is no ordinary man. Notice how quickly she retreats to religion:

The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”   (John 4:16-26)

Through his words, Jesus opens up the possibility of her receiving the promise of God that was offered to the Jews. The argument concerning the proper place to worship was no longer valid. What was really important was the worship itself. She becomes excited. In her heart and soul, she was thirsty for God. Jesus revealed that thirst to her. Could he be the long-expecting Messiah for whom even this Samaritan was hoping?

In this Season of Lent God wants to open our hearts to what may be going on inside of us. Will we take the time to examine ourselves? Are we thirsty for more of God? Are our religious exercises going to stand in the way of what God is doing? Will church doctrine keep us from seeking living water?

Do we want living water flowing from within us? What is required? Jesus said:

“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”   (John 4:10)

We need to know Jesus. We need to spend some time with him. We need to know this gift. Is this gift for us. Are we thirsty for it? The Samaritan woman was thirsty.

Jesus is the giver. He has paid dearly so that we might receive this gift. Maybe we need to engage in conversation with him. Lent is a time to go deeper into prayer. The psalmist wrote:

Deep calls to deep
    at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
    have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
    and at night his song is with me,
    a prayer to the God of my life.   (Psalm 42:7-8)

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March 5, 2023 · 12:00 am

Second Sunday in Lent

Born from Above

The Gospel of John is unique. It contains whole dialogues of Jesus that do not appear in Matthew, Mark,, or Luke. Today we have, perhaps, the most profound one of these dialogues:

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?”    ()

In this one dialogue, we have the essence of the Gospel. Jesus tells Nicodemus that to enter the kingdom of God we must be born from above. Jesus was referring to rebirth through baptism by the Spirit of God.

This confuses Nicodemus. How can someone be born again he asked? Jesus responded with a question:

Jesus answered him, “Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?   (John 3:10)

This question may seem surprising to ask Nicodemus. “Being born from above” was not a familiar concept being discussed among the Jewish leaders of the day. Nonetheless, it was not foreign to Messianic prophecy in the Old Testament:

I will give them one heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and obey them. Then they shall be my people, and I will be their God.   (Ezekiel 11:19-20)

 A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.   (Ezekiel 36:26-27

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.   (Jeremiah 31:33)

These prophecies foretold a new covenant that God would be making with Israel. The covenant was not entirely new because it was contained within the old covenant. Abraham’s faith established the old covenant and foretold the new one. Reading from Genesis:

The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him.   (Genesis 12:1-4)

Abraham obeyed God, not knowing where he was going. How difficult would it be for most of us to leave the comfort of our homes and set out to parts unknown? Moreover, for Abraham to become a great nation he needed an heir. This required great faith and trust in God. God promised him a son but Abraham and his wife were too old for this to happen naturally. It could only happen by a supernatural act of God.

The covenant God made with Israel was based on the faith of Abraham. His faith was further tested by God when God asked him to sacrifice his only son Isaac. This was an ultimate test of faith that Abraham was prepared to follow. As we know, God provided, at the last minute, a sacrificial lamb to replace Isaac. We wonder how Abraham managed such a test of faith.

This extraordinary faith foretold the new covenant that God would make with Israel. Abraham believed that Isaac would be his heir because God promised it. He, therefore, believed that God would produce a lamb:

Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.   (Genesis 22:7-8)

God did not nullify the old covenant. The old covenant required a sacrifice for sin. God fulfilled that requirement himself by sending Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, to take our place. He did what we could not do. We could not live sinlessly.

Jesus said a curious thing:

“Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist, yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

John the Baptist was greater than Moses or even Elijah. How could he be considered the least? That is because Jesus had not yet gone to the cross. The new covenant was established at the cross. Only then could the lamb of God take away the sins of the world.

We begin our new birth at the cross. That is just the beginning. We must lay down our old sinful self there.

Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. Our baptism is important, but so is the Holy Spirit working in our lives. The Apostle Paul wrote:

Therefore we were buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.   (Romans 6:4)

We must put ourselves in God’s hands. Only be can perform the birth from above. How he does that must be entirely left up to him. Jesus told Nicodemus:

The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.   (John 3:8)

Are we willing to allow God to perfect us as only he can do? Then we must be willing to die to our will and follow his will for our lives. Jesus said:

If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.   (Luke 9:23-24)

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February 22, 2023 · 12:00 am

The Season of Lent

The Wilderness Experience

 

The Season of Lent is a time of fasting and prayer for the Church. It corresponds to the time of preparation that Jesus spent in the wilderness before beginning his earthly ministry. Scripture tells us that Jesus was led there by the Holy Spirit for forty days of fasting and prayer. Thus, Lent begins with the service of Ash Wednesday and runs through Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. This period is actually forty-six days because the six Sundays between the beginning and end of the Lenten Season are not really part of the days of fasting. Sundays are always days of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.

Historically, in the Easter Church, Lent has provided a time when new converts were prepared for Holy Baptism. This practice is still observed in many liturgical churches.

Why should we observe this time of preparation and what does it mean to us and the Church today? Clearly, this observance is not required for salvation. The saving act of Jesus on the cross and our response to his loving sacrifice is required, followed by our endurance in the Faith with His help. Nevertheless, we cannot deny that life does present us with wilderness experiences.

What is false is a church that suggests that Christians should not have them. We do have them. Job stood head and shoulders above his peers as a righteous man in his day, yet he experienced a terrible wilderness experience. The false triumphalism found in some of today’s churches would make us believe that such incidents should not occur, bringing condemnation to those who go through them because they lack faith. Jesus had enough faith, but he experienced the wilderness.

If we have wilderness experiences as a matter of course then why designate an appointed time to go through one within the Church Year? Is not this appointed time artificial? It is my belief that the Season of Lent in the early church was very much influenced by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it is better to observe a wilderness experience appointed by the Holy Spirit than one that is unscheduled and catches us by surprise.

We may still endure unscheduled ones but we might be better prepared for them, having benefited from the teachings and disciplines of Lent. Jesus required preparation in the wilderness through the Holy Spirit to begin His ministry on earth. He experienced other wildernesses as well, Gethsemane being one of them.

Our purpose for Lent should be the same purpose that Jesus had for entering the wilderness: to prepare for ministry. We all have a ministry if we are Christian believers. Lent should be a time of fasting and prayer, self-examination and repentance, and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word. It should be a time of setting aside the things of this world that so easily creep in and devoting ourselves more to God and His Word.

What should Lent not be? It should not be about our attempt to impress God by what we are giving up for Him, or by what spiritual gymnastics we are putting ourselves through. The “giving-up” notion is fundamentally flawed. It makes us dread Lent. We then cannot wait for Lent to be over. That is why Mardi Gras or Carnival appeals to many people. They feel that they must make up ahead of time, the fun they will be losing.

Too often Lenten promises are like New Year’s resolutions. We make them but we don’t keep them and then we feel under condemnation. Satan has a field day with us. He loves our false humility and piety. God does not want us to prove who we are. He wants to prove himself to us if we will allow him to do so. He is the author and finisher of our faith. We just need to submit ourselves to him.

It is said that we often grow through our struggles and trials. This may be true, but it is not necessarily true. A greater truth is that our struggles do teach us that we cannot get through life on our own strength alone. The struggles often drive us to God. It is God who then changes us and not our struggles. Why should we wait for a crisis to go to God? Why not go to him early and often?

Perhaps the best observance of Lent would be to approach God with faith in the saving blood of Jesus, asking him what he would have us discover about ourselves and about Him. Let Lent be a time of intentional fellowship with God in prayer, seeking his will and wisdom for our lives so that we might be better disciples of Jesus Christ and living examples of God’s love for the world.

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